#EDIT: SECOND DISCLAIMER: i stopped watching rvb in 2016(?) after s14 so if this changes later. idk ❤️

[crowlore]

so ive been trying to explain some character dynamics to friends who haven’t watched rvb

a selection of ramblings from the last two days copy pasted from discord:

i won't say *too much* just yet bc what little the show actually gives us to go on is contained to the recollection (seasons 6-8) and i'd hate to give away any more of what one of the best arcs in the show still has in store for michael. BUT! ☝️ suffice it to say i think one of the greatest tragedies of the show (and yes, i am biased) is that we don't get to really dig into wash and epsilon's relationship.. epsilon is the alpha fragment representing the concept of memory, and as such in creating him, alpha stored the memories of his torture in epsilon. every freelancer on the project was part of a different experiment, and there's no doubting that the director was testing *something* by implanting epsilon in washington. the counsellor may claim that the complications that arose from that were not intended, but we can't be sure. we can only say for certain that being implanted in wash triggered something in the already unstable epsilon, and that by multiple people's accounts it did the closest thing an ai can do to committing suicide while still meshed with wash's consciousness. the fact that washington not only experienced alpha's memories of torture stored in epsilon, but hid that fact so thoroughly that he was able to use them to enact revenge on project freelancer down the road, is never really acknowledged by epsilon. we *do* know that epsilon harbors very severe feelings towards wash after being extracted from him and put into storage - something of a parallel to how tucker and caboose feel abandoned by church (both his alpha and epsilon variations), and this should mean something! it should matter more than washington is so intensely averse to having an ai implanted in him after epsilon, it should matter that epsilon has a grudge against washington for not being able to handle it, it should matter that they trigger such intense reactions in one another when they're reunited!! but the show doesn't put them in a position where they're forced to discuss the trauma inflicted on them both (and i say forced intentionally. i know these two are NOT voluntarily having a clear and easy talk about this topic of all things)

but like. yes. the show Does address that tucker at one point holds resentment towards wash for basically forcefully taking over church’s “place” on the team, and i really like that drama for them both! even if everyone in this show sucks and is an asshole, church Was both tucker and caboose’s best friend. (alpha) church dies in season 6 when tucker isn’t even around. he doesn’t get to say goodbye to his best friend. and when he returns in season 7, not only does epsilon church take alpha church’s place and everyone is just kinda expected to roll with it and act like it’s the same guy (it’s not) but then when wash joins the blues tucker never EVER (rightfully) blames him for his part in alpha church’s death! now, alpha church was the only person wash ever told he was doing what he did in season 6 not just for himself but for epsilon as well (wash is a character repeatedly defined by his desire to use violence to get revenge or enact his definition of justice) so it makes sense why epsilon’s first reaction towards seeing wash again post-implantation is rage. from epsilon’s perspective, wash rejected him when he was breaking down in their shared consciousness. epsilon doesn’t know what wash wanted to get revenge for what was done to them both - and that he succeeded on some level. and this is never discussed! it is never Once addressed! epsilon FREAKS OUT seeing wash again and that’s IT. it’s never talked about, it’s never worked out, it’s just Dropped. tucker gets like. one or two lines towards wash and epsilon for both poorly haunting the space left by his best friend and beyond one argument between each of them in seasons 11 and 12, it’s just. Not talked about. and i think that’s a shame!!